Althouse: "A new world order is being created, new rules of a multipolar world, a new balance of power, which is extremely important for stability in the world."

September 2, 2025

"A new world order is being created, new rules of a multipolar world, a new balance of power, which is extremely important for stability in the world."

"Being part of such discussions means supporting dialogue and not acting like a sulking little child. This is how the EU and its representatives behave today."

Said Robert Fico, the prime minister of Slovakia, "the only European Union leader present at the parade," quoted in "Kim Jong-un joins Xi and Putin in China for military parade/The North Korean leader has travelled in an armoured train to Beijing for a display of anti-West solidarity with other leaders at the SCO summit" (London Times).

64 comments:

Leland said...: Why do you need to travel by armored train inside a country that supports open dialogue? Did Western leaders threaten the train in any way?; 9/2/25, 9:41 AM
Iman said...: Axis of Weezuls…; 9/2/25, 9:44 AM
Jaq said...: We are driving them into each other's arms. They are not waiting to see who the crocodile leaves for last.; 9/2/25, 9:46 AM
Jaq said...: "Did Western leaders threaten the train in any way?"

Why are they so paranoid? Who knows, it doesn't make any sense. We just tried to kill the entire leadership of Iran without warning, in the middle of negotiations, but why don't people trust us?; 9/2/25, 9:47 AM
RideSpaceMountain said...: Xi is a crafty operator that's survived not one, but two, attempts to dislodge him and his faction. So much for the rumors that he's deposed.; 9/2/25, 9:50 AM
Kevin said...: Robert, for one, welcomes his new overlords.; 9/2/25, 9:52 AM
john mosby said...: At first I thought the headline was an old Obama quote. Wasn't the multipolar world the thing all right-thinking people thought back then? RR, JSM; 9/2/25, 9:55 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: Dude is kind of an outlier, being a "left-wing populist" and all. He has also survived an assassination attempt that seriously wounded him. Hadn't noticed Slovakia was part of NATO but it is. Since 2004. Hmmm.; 9/2/25, 9:59 AM
Jaq said...: "Robert, for one, welcomes his new overlords."

I love the conceit here that his country does not currently live in vassalage to the US. His press went after him, just like the press went after Trump here, but he won the election anyway, then a "crazy person" put several bullets in him. His press is controlled by the same Davos set that controls the US press.; 9/2/25, 10:01 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: Xi is wily but the natives are restless. Very restless. They are enduring the Trump tariffs but have little patience for Winnie the Tyrant-Pooh. He has siphoned off a few to go die for Putin, but not nearly enough to keep the pot from boiling over.; 9/2/25, 10:02 AM
Narr said...: I'm waiting for one of our geopolitical geniuses to 'splain to the rest of us who the Slovaks are, who they should love but don't, and who they should hate but don't.

Sounds like a job for AI.; 9/2/25, 10:17 AM
n.n said...: The welfare state: MIC, PIC, SIC, AIC, and DIC, may be at risk.; 9/2/25, 10:17 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Alex Jones sounded the alarm and nobody listened.; 9/2/25, 10:20 AM
Achilles said...: This is really fucking stupid.

Europe is dead and we need to stop treating them as valued allies. The UK is a police state with an illegitimate regime on the verge of a revolution. France is going to be Muslim majority before long and Germany and Poland need to embrace national sovereignty or they will follow France and The UK.

The United States needs to deal with the adult powers in the world in an adult way. We should not be enemies with Russia. There is no reason for it. We have a DC establishment that is stupid and addicted to Cold War politics.

NATO is on the verge of collapse. We have nothing in common with the current rulers of Europe. We are facing a sovereign debt crisis. We do not have the cards to act like we are acting.

Driving the rest of the world into BRICS right now is just fucking stupid.; 9/2/25, 10:27 AM
Jaq said...: "I'm waiting for one of our geopolitical geniuses to 'splain to the rest of us who the Slovaks are, who they should love but don't, and who they should hate but don't."

They should love us and hate our enemies. Obviously.

Personally, I think we should stay out of their business entirely, but apparently, as an American, not a sparrow falls to the earth but...; 9/2/25, 10:29 AM
Achilles said...: We cannot invade Iran and oppose Russia at the same time.

We are clearly getting ready to back Israel in some sort of effort against Iran. I don’t mind that but we should be working together with Russia to reorganize the Middle East and focus on China as the bipolar opposition.; 9/2/25, 10:31 AM
WK said...: Trying to save the day for the Old World man
Trying to pave the way for the Third World man

He’s not concerned with yesterday
He knows constant change is here today
He’s noble enough to know what’s right
But weak enough not to choose it
He’s wise enough to win the world
But fool enough to lose it —; 9/2/25, 10:37 AM
Peachy said...: 4 years of Biden.
While greedy corrupt democratic power-fiends focus on the destruction of Trump - they are useless (FBI/CIA) at stopping the real enemy.; 9/2/25, 10:38 AM
Leland said...: Slovakia, China, and Russia are not what I would call "New World". In fact, that concept would negate most of their arguments used to threaten other countries.; 9/2/25, 10:43 AM
Peachy said...: It's time to stop buying anything MADE IN CHINA.; 9/2/25, 10:45 AM
Enigma said...: Many have noted the global center of power follows the setting sun. This means it moved from Europe to the USA and then to Japan/Korea, and now to China. In addition, China has had a relatively large economy and strong technology for thousands of years.

BRICS: Never underestimate local egos and the local desire to win. Regardless of Trump's threats his own desire to win, there is no way that >50% of the world's population will accepting US economic dominance forever. They sold goods cheaply and financed US debt because they are playing the long economic game.

This strategic economic distortion is why people in the US can pay $1M for garbage houses in California, and silly money for vacuous Bitcoins, and sink ever more money into the absurdly overvalued Magnificant 7 stocks. In every generation the big asset classes rotate through the same fads (e.g., US, Tech, Small, Developed International, Emerging Markets/BRICS, commodities). It'll happen again and again.; 9/2/25, 10:47 AM
RCOCEAN II said...: How many divisions does the EU have? And its laughable that they're so concerned about China and NK - on the other side of the globe. And I don't see anything "anti-western" about them. More like Pro-NK and Pro-China.

Trump isn't as "America First" as I like. But he's 10x better than "Kam", Joe Biden, or George Bush. At least he wants friendly relations with Russia, as opposed to starting WW III.; 9/2/25, 11:12 AM
n.n said...: Trying to save the day for the Old World man

Clever and poignant. Hats off to you.; 9/2/25, 11:12 AM
n.n said...: Enemies or competitors? We live in a world of finitely available and accessible resources, but a prodigious supply of inflated egos. The DEIsts, abortive ideaters, and transhumanists are still a minority of the players' cast.; 9/2/25, 11:21 AM
Achilles said...: RCOCEAN II said...
How many divisions does the EU have? And its laughable that they're so concerned about China and NK - on the other side of the globe. And I don't see anything "anti-western" about them. More like Pro-NK and Pro-China.

The EU is a globalist government that is anti-America at every level. We occupy them because they proved that left to their own devices they would destroy the world.

It is annoying to see people ignoring reality.

Trump isn't as "America First" as I like. But he's 10x better than "Kam", Joe Biden, or George Bush. At least he wants friendly relations with Russia, as opposed to starting WW III.

Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union has been more honorable and worthy of being treated as an adult member of the world community than the EU has.

I think Trump knows we should be working with Russia against China at some level but he is surrounded by a combination of idiots and traitors.

He has to break us free from the path we are on.; 9/2/25, 11:26 AM
MB said...: I just spent several minutes trying to find out why Unix was considered anti-West. Apparently it's a different SCO. I'm still not sure why "doesn't include western countries" is the same as "anti-west".; 9/2/25, 11:35 AM
n.n said...: Russia, India, and America would offer a formidable detente to Chinese imperial ambition, and each other.; 9/2/25, 11:38 AM
Hassayamper said...: We should have abandoned Europe to the tender mercies of the Russians and Chinese decades ago. The whole place is not worth the bones of one American soldier.

Let's bring our boys home and put a Constitutional amendment in place to keep our land and air forces (other than Marine embassy guards and military attaches) out of every other nation, unless in time of declared war.; 9/2/25, 11:53 AM
Howard said...: Achilles and Hassayamper are in full Stockholm Syndrome mode right before evolving into Quislings. What's interesting is their views are diametrically opposed to the foreign policy of the Trump administration.; 9/2/25, 12:02 PM
Kevin said...: I love the conceit here that his country does not currently live in vassalage to the US.

Robert, for one, welcomes his new overlords.; 9/2/25, 12:03 PM
WK said...: Trying to save the day for the Old World man

Clever and poignant. Hats off to you.

Rush - 1982 album. Credit to them.; 9/2/25, 12:04 PM
Achilles said...: Howard said...
Achilles and Hassayamper are in full Stockholm Syndrome mode right before evolving into Quislings. What's interesting is their views are diametrically opposed to the foreign policy of the Trump administration.

I anticipate you following up your ad hom comment with something adult and engaging.

It would be disappointing to see you act like the other children again.; 9/2/25, 12:05 PM
Achilles said...: n.n said...
Russia, India, and America would offer a formidable detente to Chinese imperial ambition, and each other.

This is so obvious that at this point that has not happened borders on criminal and seditious.; 9/2/25, 12:08 PM
Achilles said...: I really do hope that the threats to sanction India over purchase of Russian oil was an orchestrated kabuki display.

Otherwise it was really fucking stupid.; 9/2/25, 12:11 PM
n.n said...: Trump is not God, or even a King. Queen? However, he may have an ace up his sleeve, maybe, baby. For one, black lives suddenly matter. Brown, too. And so on and so forth. Albinophobes are not nearly so full of pride and prejudice. The mortals who would be gods and goddesses are weeping. The babies are gay. UnPlanned lives are advancing. The Hamasidols are in retreat.; 9/2/25, 12:24 PM
Lazarus said...: He's sort of right. We had -- or thought we had -- moral clarity during the Cold War. Today everything is muddled.

Stalin, Mao, and Brezhnev are gone. What worries Fico is Ursula von der Leyen -- and maybe the next Samantha Power.; 9/2/25, 12:35 PM
n.n said...: A new world order like an old world order. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle with progressive returns? Maybe, but not necessarily. Selective-child, One-child, No-child are religious fads in an ostensibly secular society. Administrative districts (e.g. nations) will remain viable constructs for the foreseeable future.; 9/2/25, 12:59 PM
JaimeRoberto said...: "I'm waiting for one of our geopolitical geniuses to 'splain to the rest of us who the Slovaks are, who they should love but don't, and who they should hate but don't."

My wife is Slovak. I speak the language. I've met Fico and had dinner with him. (It was a big room.) He's a commie, but he has a point about the EU. Slovaks have been under someone else's rule for most of their history: Hungary, Czechs, USSR. Many feel that the EU is a continuation of that, and they have a point.; 9/2/25, 1:35 PM
Dr Weevil said...: RCOCEAN II (11:12am):
"And its laughable that [the EU are] so concerned about China and NK - on the other side of the globe." North Korean troops have been fighting and dying in Europe just this year, killing Ukrainians. When it started a few months ago, some (Jaq) said it was all a vicious lie, and all the videos were staged Ukrainian propaganda, but Kim just had a big ceremony to honor those killed in the war. There were hundreds of pictures on the wall, and South Korean intelligence estimates the total dead at 2,000 or so. If you don't think Europe has to worry about China and North Korea because they're on the far side of the world, you might want to think again. They can come to you. There are reports of Chinese also fighting in the war against Ukraine, but it's hard to tell how many, and whether any are volunteers. We'll know eventually.; 9/2/25, 1:56 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: "Multipolar World": He I thought Bipolar was crazy enough.; 9/2/25, 2:17 PM
Achilles said...: I am not shocked that Weevil still hasn’t signed up to fight the rest of the world.

They are all enemies and we must defeat everyone! The North Koreans are coming!

Royal We of course. Weevil just wants other people to fight everyone else for him.; 9/2/25, 2:28 PM
Achilles said...: JaimeRoberto said...

My wife is Slovak. I speak the language. I've met Fico and had dinner with him. (It was a big room.) He's a commie, but he has a point about the EU. Slovaks have been under someone else's rule for most of their history: Hungary, Czechs, USSR. Many feel that the EU is a continuation of that, and they have a point.

NATO has been expanding the EU for decades.

EU countries are bastions of democracy and freedom and they are conquering… err… bringing freedom to all people.

As long as you accept EU rules and controls over your immigration and budget there won’t be any problems. And don’t say anything mean about transgender people or off to jail with you.; 9/2/25, 2:36 PM
Dr Weevil said...: I am not surprised that Achilles can't stop lying about me. The fact is that the Ukrainians will continue to fight whether he likes it or not, that the only way to shorten the war is to supply them with the weapons they need to end it, that they do not need or want me to fight for them, and that they just want weapons to fight for themselves.

By the way, it's none of Achilles' damned business, but I am in fact ineligible to join the Ukrainian army. There are minimum requirements for health, physical fitness, and previous military training, and maximum requirements for age and criminal record, among other things. Which of these disqualifies me is of course none of Achilles' damned business. He's asked before why I don't serve, and his intention is transparent: he's hoping to get enough information to doxx me. Sorry, not playing.; 9/2/25, 2:47 PM
gspencer said...: What's being played out is Richard Gardner's article in the April, 1974 issue of Foreign Affairs, The Hard Road to World Order.

Whether you like it or not.; 9/2/25, 4:06 PM
Peachy said...: while American goes insane with DEI and trans child abuse

danger gathers.; 9/2/25, 5:12 PM
buwaya said...: I am likewise ineligible to join the Ukrainian army. Heart condition and stroke effects. I cant pass the foot in front of the other sobriety test.; 9/2/25, 5:28 PM
buwaya said...: I am pro-EU. It has in fact led to sustained prosperity in every country which has joined since the 1980s, Spain being a case in point. Being in the EU leads to reduced political risk premiums and encourages investment, besides providing a huge potential market. Even Orban wouldn't dare leave, he'd be lynched, his people know where their bread is buttered. Even the Slovaks, probably.; 9/2/25, 5:35 PM
Mason G said...: Seems to me, you have to be in a pretty shitty place to start with when adding another layer of government is the solution to your problem.; 9/2/25, 6:41 PM
Achilles said...: Dr Weevil said...
I am not surprised that Achilles can't stop lying about me. The fact is that the Ukrainians will continue to fight whether he likes it or not, that the only way to shorten the war is to supply them with the weapons they need to end it, that they do not need or want me to fight for them, and that they just want weapons to fight for themselves.

By the way, it's none of Achilles' damned business, but I am in fact ineligible to join the Ukrainian army. There are minimum requirements for health, physical fitness, and previous military training, and maximum requirements for age and criminal record, among other things. Which of these disqualifies me is of course none of Achilles' damned business. He's asked before why I don't serve, and his intention is transparent: he's hoping to get enough information to doxx me. Sorry, not playing.

Your a pathetic loser. I don't give a shit about doxxing you. I am just pointing out you are a key board warrior and a lying piece of shit who doesn't understand anything about war.

The Ukrainian people are certainly brave. You are not and you are not going to steal their valor by pretending you actually support them or care about them.

The Ukrainian people however have been betrayed by the Maidan Coalition and by the EU and by the Biden administration. They could have had peace but these leaders chose a war they were not going to fight for real. They cynically pushed the Ukrainian people in front of Russia and here we are almost 2 million dead Ukrainians later.

Now they are going to lose that war. A war that shitheads like Weevil started.; 9/2/25, 7:26 PM
buwaya said...: This Weevil dude started a war? Was he driving Russian tanks in 2022? That doesn't seem likely.
He supports the Ukrainian cause, and so do I, as it is just.
Supporting the Russian cause is unjust.; 9/2/25, 7:32 PM
Achilles said...: buwaya said...
I am pro-EU. It has in fact led to sustained prosperity in every country which has joined since the 1980s, Spain being a case in point. Being in the EU leads to reduced political risk premiums and encourages investment, besides providing a huge potential market. Even Orban wouldn't dare leave, he'd be lynched, his people know where their bread is buttered. Even the Slovaks, probably.

The EU is a despotic entity just like any other despotic nation on the planet. The UK, France and Germany are all jailing and persecuting political opposition.

If you support the EU you are no different than people who support Putin in Russia.; 9/2/25, 7:36 PM
Achilles said...: buwaya said...
This Weevil dude started a war? Was he driving Russian tanks in 2022? That doesn't seem likely.
He supports the Ukrainian cause, and so do I, as it is just.
Supporting the Russian cause is unjust.

Go look up the Mingsk accords and come back when you are not ignorant of the recent history of the area.

Pay particular attention to the Maidan Coalition and ultra nationalist leadership in Ukraine. They have been attacking Orthodox religious institutions and Russian speakers since 2014. This war started long before 2022.

There is no point in discussing issues you know nothing of.; 9/2/25, 7:39 PM
Kirk Parker said...: > he's hoping to get enough
> information to doxx me.

Yeah, don't flatter yourself; 9/2/25, 7:44 PM
Kirk Parker said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/2/25, 7:44 PM
Dr Weevil said...: I have never claimed to be brave, nor tried to steal anyone's valor. Again, Achilles is a filthy, stinking, suppurating liar. (And an ignorant one: he writes "Your" when he means "You're".)

And the one leader who chose war with Ukraine, as with Georgia, is Vladimir Putin. The "Maidan Coalition" (who? you mean the Ukrainian people?) did not choose war. Neither did the EU or Biden or Obama, though they certainly failed to prevent it in 2014, or to prevent the massive escalation of 2022.

The people who have betrayed Ukraine have done so by failing to provide sufficient weapons and ammunition: that's Obama, Biden, Trump, most of the EU, and every single propagandist who has cheered for cutting off supplies, or said "it's not our problem", or called Zelenskyy a Nazi, or a druggie, or a corrupt oligarch, or said that Putin has a perfect right to keep the Donbas (which voted 5-1 to join Ukraine) and to keep Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, which have no significant ethnic-Russian minority, and even to demand the unconquered parts of those provinces in return for a promise of peace that he fully intends to break at his earliest convenience. In other words, the people who have betrayed and continue to betray Ukraine include you, Achilles, and Jaq, and quite a few others on this site.; 9/2/25, 7:47 PM
Dr Weevil said...: If you "go look up the Mingsk accords", you will find no such thing. As I have pointed out before, Ming is a Chinese dynasty, Minsk is a Belarusian city, and Mingsk (repeated after correction!) is a proof of geopolitical idiocy. If you look up the Minsk accords, you'll find that the Russians and their Donbas puppets violated them from the moment they were signed, and they have been a dead letter ever since. Only Russian propagandists adduce them, and they have no intention of complying with them themselves.

As I have pointed out before, the Chechens won the first Chechen war in 1996, when the Russian economy was collapsing, Russia signed a solemn peace agreement granting them independence, and three years later, after sanctions had been removed and the Russian economy had recovered, the Russians invaded again, slaughtered tens of thousands of Chechens, mostly civilians, and killed every single Chechen leader who had signed the treaty. Anyone who suggests ending this war with a peace treaty is a moron. It will end only when Russia is defeated. Despite the failure of three presidents to provide much help, that is likely to happen in the next year.; 9/2/25, 8:01 PM
buwaya said...: "Ultra-nationalist" is just "nationalist" if you are of the "nation".
That is a POV. You may figure that most Ukrainians are "ultra-nationalist" if they dont agree with you.
The allegations of mistreatment of Russian speakers is Russian propaganda. The leadership of Ukraine includes "native" Russian speakers like Mr. Zelensky himself. I understand the Ukrainian Orthodox church holds services in Russian where their congregations do, which is most of them. The complaint about the Russian Orthodox church is their leadership is politically loyal to Moscow, which has been inimical to the nation of Ukraine for decades.; 9/2/25, 8:03 PM
Dr Weevil said...: Another indication of gross geopolitical ignorance:

"The EU is a despotic entity just like any other despotic nation on the planet. The UK, France and Germany are all jailing and persecuting political opposition."

Have you forgotten Brexit? The UK has not been a member of the EU for five and a half years now! And most members of the EU do not in fact jail or persecute political opposition.; 9/2/25, 8:08 PM
buwaya said...: The EU is no more despotic than the United States Federal Government. It is sometimes heavy-handed in regulation, but it has gotten better.
The unique benefit of the EU is as a somewhat trustworthy referee for local squabbles and hatreds. Not that it has to inervene, just being there suffices. It has had a fine effect on Spain, as it has lowered the perceived stakes of politics, given the history of that place. Ditto for the ex-East Bloc countries.
You cant get a decent perspective on Europe, I suppose, without living there. I can try bridge that gap, but for that to work you need to believe me.; 9/2/25, 8:16 PM
Dr Weevil said...: buwaya:
Arguably less despotic than the US Federal Government. No state has ever been allowed to leave the US, and the ones that tried in 1861 were militarily crushed, with hundreds of thousands of deaths. The UK left the EU in 2020 with no bloodshed at all, and any other nation can follow if they like.; 9/2/25, 8:21 PM
john mosby said...: Buwaya: good point on the EU defusing intra-national feuds. The EU's very existence probably had more to do with an Irish peace solution than anything Clinton and Mitchell did. I can also see how being part of the EU can mollify Catalans, Basques, Occitans, the various Celtic remnants in Iberia and France, and all the ethnicities in Belgium. Nothing seems to calm down the various separatists in Italy, though....RR, JSM; 9/2/25, 8:27 PM
buwaya said...: The other factor that lowered the Spanish temperature was the implementation of regionalism, wherein a vast range of national powers were devolved to regional governments, to a greater degree, on the whole, than US States. You dont need to fight Madrid to force all your kids to learm Basque or to comply with national environmental rules. They can even set their own income tax rates.
In part this is the Catholic political idea of subsidiarity, in part a reversion to the ancient Spanish custom of fueros, local rights.; 9/2/25, 8:52 PM
buwaya said...: The very existence of Slovakia as an idependent state is a consequence of the EU, and NATO. In earlier times various competing national interests and threats would have made this splitting of Czechoslovakia a dangerous and costly business. The implicit economic status and security guarantees made this whole business easy.; 9/2/25, 9:03 PM
Oso Negro said...: Achilles, brother, I love you, but if you are going to sling accusations of ignorance Buwaya is one of the last people I would pick.; 9/3/25, 6:21 AM